Cowling for aircraft engines



y 2, 1940- v P. EQMIERCIVER 2,206,417

COWLING FOR AIRCRAFT ENGINES 7 Filed May 25, 1937 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR PIERRE smear MERCIER ATILORNEMS July 2, 1940.

P. E. MERCIER GOWLING FOR AIRCRAFT ENGINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 25, 1937 K INVENTOR= PIERRE ERNEGT MERCER ,ZLA Z ATTORNEV6 y P. E. MERCIER 2,206,417

COWLING FOR AIRCRAFT -ENGINES Filed May 25, 1937 BStneets-Sheet 3 INVENTO R PIERRE ERNE6 AT'iORNEX TMERCIER Patented July 2, V

UNITED ,STATES PATENT OFFICE I I cowLING roif marr ENGINES Pierre Ernest Merci er, Paris, France Application May 25, 1937, Serial No. 144,592

r in France December 23, 1936 3 Claims. (Gl- 123-171) cedes the zone of contact of the air with the surfaces to be cooled, and beyond this zone of contact, the air, after taking up heat is discharged through an annular outlet passage surrounding the inlet passage and terminated by an outlet port opening into atmosphere, while the con-' struction includes at least one engine-cylinder having its walls disposed in said inlet passage and having its head disposed in said outlet, means comprising proper spacing of said intermediate and inner walls so as to form, between theinlet port and said cylinder walls suri'ace, a progressively increasing cross section of said inlet pas-, sage toward said surface, and proper spacing of said intermediate and outer walls so as to form, between said cylinder head surface and the outlet port a progressively decreasing cross section of said'outlet passage towards said outlet port.

One method of constructing the cowling thus designed and in which the inlet port for the'cooling air is behind the plane of rotation of the propeller, is furthermore characterised by the fact that the inlet port (the reduced section of the inlet passage) of the one part and the annular outlet port of the other part are simultaneously adjustable by the same control device, which ensures the minimum of fexpenditure of energy to maintain the circulation iiece'ssary for the cooling of the engine at different speeds and outputs.

The said control mechanism according to one particular embodiment of the invention may com- :prise a deformable chamber arranged in asuitable recess, integral with the fixed part of the cowlingin which chamber a fluid under pressure can be admitted and against .which act suitable bosses carried by the movable members or flaps controlling the air inlet or outlet ports. The flap or flaps controlling the port not controlled directly by the deformable chamber arecoupled to the other flap or flapswhich are controlled by the chamber, by adjustable connecting rods, whilst springs or equivalent members which. oppose'the action of the fluid admitted into the chamber, exert their action on one or other of the saidflaps. I

Another embodiment in. which the inlet of the value of the inlet port opening. Since the pitch air admitted into the cowling is in front of the plane of rotation of the airscrew is characterised by the fact that all or a portion of the divergent part of the inlet or delivery passage which en'- sures the slowingdown and the guiding of the 5 cooling. air admitted, is integral with the propeller and rotates therewith; furthermore, the control which eflects regulation of the outlet port for, the air circulatingin the interior of the cowling is thennecessarily separatei'rom that which 10 is to modify the inlet section.

This latter control may be advantageously combined with the control for regulating the pitch of the airscrew when the latter is of the variable Ditch type, w c s ne a y the case. It is then suflicient to utilise the angular-rotation of the blades, or the displacement of the member con-- trolling the blade pitch, to vary the inlet port in question. Under these conditions, there will correspond to each value of the airscrew pitch'a m of the airscrew is itself related to the speed of translation of the aircraft and to the power developed by the engine, it will be understood that this method of control permits automatic and 26 eiiective adjustment of the inlet port according to the conditions of use of the engine (power and speed of translation).

The variation of the inlet port itself may be carried out in diflerent ways without departing from the scope of the invention. By way of example, however, it may be stated that' this variation can be obtained by moving the casing covering the airscrew hub relatively to the diverging part of the cowling referred to above. Further, as the-inlet port may be controlled by small flaps similarto the flap for regulating the outlet port. Finally, an, annular inflatable container may be employed in the inlet port so as to increase or scale the control mechanism included in Figure l; and

Figure 3 is another embodiment of the inventie -with admission of the cooling air in front airscrew 2. The conduit I is bounded by a cowling part 3 which forms a continuation of the propeller cap 4. Towards the outer or inlet end the delivery conduit I is controlled by movable fiaps 5, and towards its inner end this conduit is bounded by a cylindro-conical partition 8 sepa-- rating the conduit I 'from a return conduit 1. The air which, after circulating between the engine cylinders, as shown by the arrows, sweeps round screens or deflectors 8 and 9, enters a chamber- I8 arranged behind the engine and bounded towards the rear by a shot-proof plate II, the chamber Ill communicating over the whole of its circumference with the discharge conduit I which terminates in an outlet port slot I2. The port or slot I2 and the reduced inlet section I, are controlled by fiaps 'I3 and I4 movable about pivots I5 and I6, the flaps I3 and I4 being shown in dotted lines in their fully open positions.

The fiaps I3 carry shoulders H which bear against a deformable chamber I8 to which a control fluid is supplied. The fiaps I4 are moved by the flaps I3 through rods iii. Figure 1 shows a screw blade 2 and a spring 4i acting in opposition to the fluid pressure within the chamber I8 and thus tending to close the eflective opening of the slot I2 and to reduce the inlet port or section I.

In the case of Figure 1, an inlet manifold is shown which serves to guide the fluid into the air chamber and is controlled by the pilot or operator by known means. As also shown in this figure, exhaust manifolds 20 open or terminate behind a screen 2I outside the cowling. All

, the parts, including the fiaps I3 and I4 and the front flxed'portion 22 of the cowling are carried as included in the upper part of Figure '1.

by'a light framework supported on the engine but not shown in the drawings. The rear portion 23 of the cowling which portion is independent of the forwardv cowling part-maybe of the dctachable type such as currently employed in this general type of cowling.

Figure 2 shows on a larger scale the detail 0 the front portion of the hooding seen in section The movable fiap controlling the inlet port is shown at I3 and is hinged at on a rib 3| forming a.

tect the chamber "from the heat radiated bythe hot, air circulating in the outlet conduit 1.

The boss I! on the fiap I3 bears against the chamber I8 under the action of springs shown diagrammatically at 34 and acting by abutment of one flap I4 on the next fiap. The spring force thus applied to the fiap I 4 is transferred to the ,fiap I3 through the'rod 35 which is adjustable inlength and is hinged at 33 on the fiap' I3 and at 31 on to the flap I4.

The'cowling 23 adjacentto the outlet'sectlon or slot I2 terminates in a tubular reinforcement shown in section at '38.

The engine shown in Figure 3 is of the double row type, the rows of cylinders being indicated at 24 and 25. The inlet port or section for the cooling air is shown at' 26, the air circulating between the propeller cap 4 fairing the hub of the propeller and the diverging part 21. The cap 4 and part 21 rotate as a unit with the propeller and adjoin, at 28 and 23, with the-necessary clearance .the parts 8 and 3 which are fixed to the engine and form a continuation thereof.

' Enclosed arms (not shown) serve to centre the part 21 with respect to the part 4. Otherarms -(not shown) ensure the relatively fixed spacing of the fairings 6 and 23 with respect to the engine. The air circulates in the direction of the arrows and passes aft over the cylinder fins in the direction left to right, as viewed in the drawingsand then returns along the peripheral annular channel III in the direction right to left, to 'be finally discharged through the adjustable port or slot I2. The back of the cowling is closed by an annular wall II. The airscrew is of the three-blade type, a part of one blade being shown diagrammatically at 38.

In Figure 3 a cap 42 is shown having an axial displacement which causes the pitchof the screw to vary in known manner. The foot of the latter carriers a pinion 44 which meshes with two racks 43 and 45, one of which is integral with the cap 42 and the other with the revolving part or spinner 4. Thus the displacement of the cap 42 to the right which is controlled by the pilot by known means, entails a displacement to the left on the part of the spinner 4, which reduces the inlet section 28. l

For effective operation of the diverging part of the air inlet conduit both in the form of Figure 1 and in that of Figure 3 it is necessary that the air' admitted be disturbed as little as possible by the rotation of the airscrew. As the roots of the propeller blades (particularly in variable pitch propellers) are generally but little closed and are of almost circular section, the invention affords special fairing of the blade roots, which fairing may either be fixed to the capping at the level of the insertion of the blade or may be fixed to the blade itself, or if it is flexible (fabric, leather, reinforced rubber, etc.) it may be fixed to both.

Although theinvention has been more particularly described in its application to the cooling of engines of the star type or to those of the double row type, it will be'understood that the invention is capable of numerous other appli-- cations and in particular to the cooling of engines in line or in V arrangement, or to ensure the proper control of the circulation of cooling air directed on to a radiator or any other similar part used in aeronautics.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In an aircraft, in combination, an engine, a variable pitch airscrew driven thereby, means for regulating the airscrew pitch, an inner annular cowling wall, an outer annular cowling wall around and spaced from the said inner wall, an intermediate cowling wall between and spaced from the said inner and outer walls, the space between. the inner and intermediate annular walls constituting a cooling air inlet passage open posed in said inlet passage and having its head disposed in said outlet, means comprising proper spacing of said intermediate and inner walls so as to form, between the inlet port and said cylinder walls surface, a progressively increasing cross section of said inlet passage toward said surface, and proper spacing of said intermediate said regulating deviceand to the means for regulating the airscrew pitch.

2. An aircraft engine comprising, in combination, a cowling having an inner annular wall, an outer annular wall around'and spaced from the inner annular wall, an intermediate annular wall between and spaced from the said innerand outer walls, the space between the inner and intermediate annular walls constituting a cooling air inlet passage open to the atmosphere at its forward end to form an annular air inlet port, whilst the annular space between the.intermediate and outer annular walls constitutes a cooling air outlet port open at its forward end to form an air outlet port, at least one engine cylinder having its walls disposed in said inlet-passage and having its head disposed in said outlet, means comprising proper spacing of said intermediate 4 and inner walls so as to form, between the inlet port and said cylinder walls surface, a progressively increasing cross section of said inlet passage toward said surface, and proper spacing of said intermediate and outer walls so as to form, between said cylinder head surface and the outlet port a progressively decreasing cross section of said outlet passage towards said outlet device for regulating the effective opening of the inlet-port, a device for regulating the effective opening of the outlet port, a rod connecting the said devices together, means' for adjusting the length of the said rod, a deformable chamber the wall of which transmits regulating movement to one of the regulating devices, and means for controlling a supply of fluid under pressure to the deformable chamber, thereby simultaneously actuating the said regulating devices.

3. In a cowling for an aircraft engine, in combination, an inner annular wall, an outer annular wall around and spaced from the inner wall, an intermediate annular wall between and spaced from the inner and outer walls, the annular space between the inner and intermediate walls constituting a cooling air inlet passage open at its forward end to form an air inlet port open to the atmosphere, whilst the annular space between the intermedlate and outer annular walls constitutes a cooling air outlet passage open at its forward end to form an air outlet port open to the atmosphere, means whereby the cooling air after flowing aft from the inlet port through the inlet passage to the surface to be cooled is 0 directed forward through the outlet passage and through the outlet port to the atmosphere, 'a hinged flap valve controlling the inlet port, a hinged flap valve controlling the outlet port, and a deformable chamber to which fluid under pressure is supplied for operating at least oneof the said flap valves, the cross-section of the inlet passage increasing in the direction of flow of air therethrough whilst the cross-section of the said outlet passage decreases in the direction of air- 

